Reba McEntire‘s NBC sitcom Happy’s Place found a subtle way to playfully throw shade at the Baldwin brothers.
During the Friday, January 16, episode, Steve (Pablo Castelblanco) considered exploring a side gig as an actor. He lost hope after not booking his first audition, which is when Bobbie (McEntire) stepped in to offer some advice.
“You lost out on one role, you will get the next one,” she told Steve, who fired back, “No I won’t. The skill to be a great actor is rare.”
He continued: “You have to be born with it. Like a [Meryl] Streep or a [Robert] De Niro — or two of the Baldwin brothers.”
The Baldwins are a family of performers with Alec Baldwin leading the charge. He is the eldest of brothers Daniel Baldwin, William Baldwin and Stephen Baldwin. Happy’s Place has found creative ways to poke fun at pop culture in the past — with a November 2025 episode of the show featuring a joke about Al Pacino becoming a father again at age 83.
Happy’s Place centers around Bobbie as she inherits her father’s restaurant and discovers a new business partner in her long-lost half-sister (Belissa Escobedo). The show also stars Melissa Peterman, Rex Linn, Pablo Castelblanco and Tokala Black Elk.
The NBC sitcom brought McEntire, 70, and Peterman, 54, back together more than 17 years after their hit series Reba ended its six-year run on The WB. Reba also starred Scarlett Pomers and Mitch Holleman, both of whom have yet to make a cameo after Chris Rich and Steve Howey appeared in season 1. (JoAnna Garcia Swisher is set to appear on the show later this season.)
Before the show returned for season 2, McEntire and Escobedo, 27, shared how they were excited for viewers to see how much Happy’s Place has evolved.
“It is a great place to be. We know our audience, we know each other better and we’ve gelled. We didn’t have that big of a break between the first season ending and second season beginning so we just fell right back into it,” McEntire exclusively told Us Weekly. “We’re bonding a lot more. All six of us are very confident and very comfortable with each other — to a point that when we do have a guest cast, we feel very comfortable sharing the stage.”
Escobedo said the connection can be felt on the show.
“As we get more comfortable and more bonded, we see it in the characters as well,” she added. “Because we’re getting comfortable with our own characters and so each personality gets a little deeper. You get more into that person.”
She continued: “That’s what I’m so excited for everyone to see is how much the relationship between everyone has progressed into even more of an ensemble. It’s just so funny.”
McEntire teased to Us that the stories in season 2 are even bigger and better, adding, “We’ve progressed and we’ve grown together. We’re a tight knit family — although [Belissa and I] are the only ones that are blood related on the show. But it feels like we’re kids that have been adopted into one big family called Happy’s Place.”
Happy’s Place airs on NBC Fridays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Peacock.
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